Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"How long does this last for?" Shadow Stephanie asks.


"As long as you keep Stephanie safe, you're not on bad terms." Praecantatia says.


"It is now." Temporus says.

 

I look for any other ways to go.

 

“Usually thirty seconds, but this is a test build, so it breaks if you do anything that isn’t a stealth attack.”


“I’m sorry to waste your time, then. I can only promise I will do as much for her as every other user.”


“You sure?”

There are three other portals, not counting the portal back.

________________________________

“I know, keep distance and all.” He sighs, starting to fling mud around.

 

"And try not to hit us. I think I speak for everyone if I say we prefer to stay clean."

 

I go through one of the other portals at random.

 

"Oh, great." Shadow Stephanie says, stealthing around.


Praecantatia just remains silent.


"It'd be harder to change now." Temporus says.

 

There’s not much to sneak around from.
“Okay, here. There’s now a training dummy. Try using other abilities.” Lenka says, another demon hand ripping out from the ground and firing a molten arrow from a molten bow, which causes the dummy to show a bunch of damage numbers off to the side of the HUD.


“I would say yes, but I’m not a physical entity, and I’m not willing to endanger the lives of all of my users for the safety of one. If you’re not willing to respect my limits, then I’ll give up on asking to trade magic lessons for technological insight.”


“Well... guess I’m birdwatching.” Xlentia yawns.

You wind up going back to Idhaenna’s palace.
“...Consider using a different rng algorithm.” She comments.

“Don’t be behind me, then.” He calls, a pile of mud starting to form.

 

“Har har.”
I try going through a different portal.

 

He steps away from the hole, looking over the river.

 

Stephanie just tries attacking the dummy.


"Just try to keep her safe." Praecantatia says, an unknown signal interrupting and activating a shutdown sequence on the connection.


Temporus disappears in a red flash, and Gaia goes back to attending her gardens.

 

You show up in a lush forest with a fairly dark floor.

An energy projection comes out of the dagger as she swings, but only on her first strike.


It strips a single layer of security.
“If you change your mind about your prejudice, you know how to contact me. I am willing to start over for the sake of easing tensions; are you?” Stella asks, the link disconnecting with security going out last.


Xlentia just looks at what’s grown on her back.

________________________________

It’s muddier, and the dragon might flood the tunnel if he surfaces in a bad place.

 

Shadow Stephanie keeps attacking to see if anything happens.


Praecantatia glares at the core, checking things on her computer.


A few trees appear to have sprouted, as well as a lot of moss, grass and foliage.

 

Nothing, really, but she’s just been attacking it head-on.


Nothing terribly noticeable has happened, except for a single new text file along with the recording, which is marginally smaller.


Xlentia looks for animals or guardians.

 

Shadow Stephanie vaults over the dummy and stabs it in the back.


Praecantatia opens the text file, worried.


A few birds nest in the trees, and mice run through the grass. Forest guardians appear to occupy the forest around her, though none climb on her back.

 

I take a stroll, looking around.

 

The dagger winds up turning into an extension of her hand, piercing clean through the dummy.


“I took the liberty of swapping the bloated recording that only recorded five seconds of the conversation with a full recording of the conversation, along with removing some of the more basic security protocols so you can more easily study it. Again, I sincerely apologize for everything, including my inability to guarantee your daughter’s safety. She is in a secure sector with enough firepower to decimate an arkship eighthundredfold. If you deem that my protection is insufficient, telling me to promise an uncertainty is unhelpful for me. If constant patrols, full-space radar covering all three planes of existence, emergency service on call in every solar system equipped to handle anything from a medical emergency to a dispute over property or the like in four seconds flat is insufficient, I cannot do any more.
I said I would not prioritize her over every other user - I can only treat each user as if they were my child, including her. I do not know how to treat someone better than as if they were my own child. I have not encountered such a scenario.
If you have a change of heart, let me know. My profuse apologies for my lack of clarification await.
-Stella”


Xlentia turns to monitor her back, then holds still.

A bit of wildlife jumps in the treetops overhead, but everything is silent otherwise.

 

I jump up and fly over the canopy, checking out what the area looks like.

 

There’s a blatant division between dense forest canopy and ocean, though the mountains off to the side are totally barren.

 

I streak through the sky towards the ocean, looking for any signs of civilization.

 

"Interesting." Shadow Stephanie says.


Praecantatia immediately begins studying the recording, trying to crack the protocols and form defenses and offenses.


The wildlife seems to continue as normal, though there's an obvious groove as to where Xlentia's head was.